It is a sore task that God has given to the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.--Kohelet

Sunday, April 10, 2016

The Church has a Problem: An in depth look

If you are a Christian, you have been taught a set of principles by which you live your life. However, there are some very serious problems with those principles. You were taught, maybe from childhood, that Jesus died for your sins. This is wrong. Not only did he not die for your sins, he wasn't the only son of G-d. He wasn't the messiah either. There are many proof texts I can cite to prove these points beyond the shadow of a doubt. We'll get to that later. Many of these can be found in my other blog posts as well. I would like to examine some of these principles for you. These are things you have heard about already but you may not have looked at them in this way.

The Holy Scriptures

Certainly you have heard of Moses before. He was the man whom G-d spoke with on Mt Sinai and gave his law, the Torah, for the Children of Israel. This is also not exactly accurate. Yes, Moses did receive the Torah on Mt. Sinai. But Torah doesn't mean law. It means guide. So, the Torah is the guide for how G-d expects His people to live. It is often called the Law of Moses. This term is misleading, but it is generally accepted as meaning the Five Books of Moses. New Testament writers use the term to demean the Torah as being something no one could follow. But wait, there's more. The Five Books are not the complete Torah. Something you may not have heard about is the Oral Torah. This was also given to Moses at Mt. Sinai. The Oral Torah explains all of the aspects of the Written Torah. For example, if you read the five books, you will find many things that are general directions like keeping the Sabbath. Understand that not keeping the Sabbath is considered a capital offense. So, the Oral Torah explains all of the things you can and cannot do on the Sabbath. The rules are very specific. How could G-d give a commandment, punishable by death, and not give specific instructions? Another example is kosher slaughtering. The Torah says to slaughter animals "in the way I have instructed you". But it never says how to do it. This is also in the Oral Torah. It is also called the Oral Tradition. One cannot fully understand the Written Torah without the Oral Torah.

We know that G-d gave Moses the Torah, but what about the rest of the Bible? The next part we come to is The Prophets. At various times throughout history, G-d has spoken to certain people. These are prophets. Prophecy is not necessarily a means to tell what will happen in the future. There were thousands of prophets but only a few are mentioned in the Bible. Most of the prophets were given information that was only relevant to the people of that time. These prophecies may have been written down or not. We don't have them today and that is fine because they were not for us. The prophets that are in the Bible are relevant both to the generation during which they lived and future generations. Some of their prophecies have already been fulfilled while some have yet to be fulfilled. The rest of the books in the Bible are the Sacred Writings. These books include the Psalms, Proverbs, etc These books are neither Torah nor prophetic but are sacred none the less. These three groups of books make up the Hebrew Bible or the Tanakh. Judaism, Islam, and Christianity all accept the truth of these books.

As a Christian, you may have read some of these books. Some are quoted at various times by the church to point out specific things like tithing, and to attempt to point to Jesus at the messiah. For this discussion, you don't need to have read these books completely. Simply knowing that they contain the truth will suffice for now. I must strongly suggest that you do read them.

The Messiah

The word messiah comes from the Hebrew word Moshiach. It means anointed. In the Bible, we find many people being anointed. All kings of Israel must be anointed. But, being anointed does not make one a king. Anointing is the act of pouring oil on the head of someone. So, a messiah is simply someone who has been anointed. The prophets spoke of a messiah who would come in the end times who would be the King of Israel. He will do other things as well, like usher in an era of world peace and bring about a universal knowledge of the G-d of Abraham. A quick internet search for "what will Moshiach do" will show you all of the things he will do. The fact that he will be anointed is a bigger deal than many people think. All of the kings are anointed by a prophet. There hasn't been a prophet on the earth since Ezra. He was the last of the prophets who wrote the book Malachi, the last book in the Hebrew Bible. When Ezra died, prophecy ceased to exist on the earth. There are a lot of charismatic churches who claim to have prophets. This is also wrong. Any person claiming to be a prophet today is a liar. You should be advised to stay away from such a person. Elijah the Prophet is the one who will anoint the messiah as King of Israel. Elijah is the significant issue here. Elijah was taken up in a chariot of fire instead of dying. After Moses, he is likely the most powerful of all the prophets in the Bible. Elijah will return to earth and anoint the next king of Israel. You see, throughout history, many men have claimed to be the messiah. Some have actually done some of the things he is supposed to do. Jesus actually did none of the things which the messiah is supposed to do. Only our creator knows who the messiah is. We know that He only speaks through His prophets. This is why Elijah is so important in the naming of the messiah. We don't get to make the decision. It is said that in every generation, there is someone who could be the messiah. Before Elijah can come and anoint him, the Jewish people must repent and return to G-d. There is a point in time at which G-d Himself will force the issue and send His Moshiach. This obviously hasn't happened yet. Although, many Torah scholars insist it will be very soon, possibly any day now.

The church has caused a huge problem for the coming of Moshiach. Since the early days of the church, they have forced people to convert to Christianity. The plain and simple truth is that Christians worship Jesus. Jesus was a man. Christians worship a man. This is idolatry. G-d demands that we worship Him alone. There are many texts in the Bible that say this very thing. The church forced the conversion of an unknowable number of Jews. How can we ever expect the Moshiach to come with so many Jews trapped in idol worship? And this problem goes back two thousand years. The descendants of the Jews who converted back then have no idea they are even Jewish. We are talking about billions of people throughout the years worshiping an idol named Jesus. The church is directly responsible for this. Shameful doesn't begin to express what has happened. By converting Jews, the church has severely hindered the coming of the Moshiach. They will pay for the severity of their crimes by being destroyed.

Forgiveness of Sins

You have heard that Jesus died for your sins. Scripturally, this is not possible. According to the Hebrew Bible, no one can die for the sins of another. Neither can anyone redeem the life of another. Redeeming is something that was done in the Temple. Say you were bringing your tithe from the flock. If you wanted to, you could pay the value of the animal plus one-fifth and keep the animal. So, when the Bible says you can't redeem the life of another, it is telling us that you can't buy your way out of sin. Another way redemption is used in the Bible refers to your closest relative. Say you have a debt you cannot pay. Your closest relative can opt to pay the debt for you, thus redeeming you from the debt. This is the sense in which we refer to the Creator, blessed be His name, our redeemer. Redemption is not forgiveness nor is it associated with it in any way.

To understand forgiveness, you must first understand sin. There are two types of sin, intentional and unintentional. Your church will not be able to explain this to you, but here it is. The sin sacrifices outlined in the Torah are for unintentional sin. Say, for example, you didn't realize it was the Sabbath and you carried something out to your trash can. You didn't intend to break the commandment. When there is a Temple in Jerusalem, you would be required to bring the sin sacrifice. Your intent here is very important. Now say, for example, you know it is the Sabbath, but you decide you are going to carry that same item to the trash can outside. The intent here is completely different. You consciously decided to break the commandment. The sin sacrifice does not apply here. You must repent and bring a guilt offering which is not the same as the sin offering.

The church looks at the Torah and reads about the blood sacrifice. They will tell you that Jesus had to die to be the blood sacrifice for your sins. They are missing a huge point here. The blood sacrifice is not for intentional sins. So, even if he were the sin sacrifice, you would still be guilty of any intentional sins you might have committed in your life. So how then can they say he died for the forgiveness of your sin? It doesn't fit the description. Now here is the real "good news". You don't need a blood sacrifice to be forgiven. All that is required is repentance. What's more, when there is a Temple and you bring your sin sacrifice, if you cannot afford an animal, you can bring fine flour. No blood required. Also, doing charity forgives a multitude of sins. Again, no blood. The big question is this, for what exactly do you need Jesus? You don't need him to die for your sin. It is in the Torah which we all agree contains the truth.

The Son of G-d

The New Testament authors say that Jesus was the son of G-d. This is wrong too. To begin with, He does not have any anthropomorphic qualities. That is to say, He doesn't have a body. He doesn't give birth like people do. The book of Genesis describes how the Creator, blessed be His name, created Adam. The New Testament also says Adam was the son of G-d. This becomes a problem for the church. In a sense, we are all His children. But, it doesn't go beyond that. In the actual sense of the word son, no one is the son of G-d. He was no more the son of G-d than you or I. The church doesn't understand G-d at all. He is everything. There is nothing other than Him. He is hidden in the world and it is up to us to discover Him. The Torah tells us how to know Him. Moses said to Him. Teach me your ways so that I may know you. When we keep His commandments and do what they say, we can attach ourselves to Him. The New Testament infers that G-d is more like us. That He gave birth to an actual son to whom He gave His power. What they can't explain is this. If there is a trinity, how does G-d give up His power to the other two segments of the godhead?

The Hebrew scriptures teach us that G-d is one and alone, that there is no other but Him with whom He shares His glory. This is not the description of the trinity. The triune concept of a deity comes from pagan sources. The church freely admits that they adopted pagan concepts in an effort to gain more converts. They don't hide it. But, did you know that most of the Christian ideas come from pagan sources? These include the trinity, the crucifixion, the twelve disciples, the virgin birth, the second coming. All of these concepts come from pagan religions. Christianity is nothing more than an amalgam of pagan religions which have been piggy-backed onto Judaism.

The Truth of Judaism

We've already determined and agreed that the Hebrew Scriptures are true. If you say they are not true, you make Christianity non-existant. Christianity depends on Judaism to justify itself. Here's how. Christians worship Jesus because they claim that he is the Jewish Messiah. So, no Judaism, no Messiah. As a Christian, you have to believe the Hebrew Scriptures. That being said, let's look at some scriptures which prove everything you've just read. I am using The Complete Jewish Bible provided by Chabad.org. (used by permission). You will find, and all Bible scholars know, that the Christian bible's version of the Hebrew scriptures, or as they call it "The Old Testament" is not an accurate translation. Yes, there are many different versions, but they are all translated from one of two writings, The Septuagint, and the Vulgate, some of which is translated from the Septuagint. These two compilations have been manipulated through the years and as such are not reliable. The Hebrew Scriptures in use today are largely the same as those found among the Dead Sea Scrolls which date to some three hundred years before the common era and between four and five hundred years before the New Testament. They are more than reliable. Hebrew Scriptures undergo extreme scrutiny any time a new Torah Scroll is made. They are not churned out on an assembly line or printing press. The extreme processes in place today are the same as they were then. This has allowed the Jewish people to make the claim that the Torah we have today is the same as that given to Moses.

Let's take a look at some scripture. In Exodus 32, we find the story of the golden calf. The people have committed a grave sin, idolatry. 30 It came to pass on the next day that Moses said to the people: "You have committed a grave sin. And now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I will obtain atonement for your sin." We see Moses is trying smooth thing over for the people. 31 And Moses returned to the Lord and said: "Please! This people has committed a grave sin. They have made themselves a god of gold 32 And now, if You forgive their sin But if not, erase me now from Your book, which You have written." G-d responds, 33 And the Lord said to Moses: "Whoever has sinned against Me, him I will erase from My book!"34 And now go, lead the people to [the place] of which I have spoken to you. Behold My angel will go before you. But on the day I make an accounting [of sins upon them], I will bring their sin to account against them." 35 Then the Lord struck the people with a plague, because they had made the calf that Aaron had made. In this conversation, G-d explains to Moses that each person is accountable for his or her own sin. Ezekiel 18:20-21 tells us that the soul that sins will die. In verse 21 it says, " And if the wicked man repent of all his sins that he has committed and keeps all My laws and executes justice and righteousness, he shall surely live, he shall not die" Repentance is all that is required for forgiveness. Please look this up for yourself. In simpler terms, we are responsible for ourselves and what we choose to do.

Deuteronomy 6: 4 shows us that there is no trinity. "Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God; the Lord is one." If He is a trinity this verse would be a lie. As before, we have already determined that we believe the Hebrew Scriptures are true. We know that G-d does not lie, (Number 23:19) So when He says He is one, there is no way He can be anything but one. How is it that the church tells you He is three? In Isaiah 43 we learn " 3 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; 10... before Me no god was formed and after Me none shall be; 11 I, I am the Lord, and besides Me there is no Savior;15 I am the Lord, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King. I don't know of any place in the Scriptures where G-d refers to Himself in the plural. He is one and beside Him there is no other.

You can see plainly that the things which the church has been teaching for two thousand years do not stand up the Scriptural scrutiny. In other words, they are not true. When you combine that with the fact that their bible has been manipulated countless times, you cannot, in good conscience, remain a Christian without at least some reservations. There is no need for Jesus. I urge you to turn to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and repent. Worshiping Jesus, who was nothing more than a man, is idolatrous. Idolatry is equal to a slap in the face of your Creator. Know that there is no place for idol worship in the world to come.